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Community Corner

Moms Talk: Can You Raise a Gender-Free Baby?

Story about a family in Canada went viral about raising their baby as gender-free. Is it possible?

This week, it's not just the Mommy blogs and sites that are all huffing and puffing. This story spread everywhere. What exactly could get so many people riled up, for either side of the debate?

The Toronto Star published a story about a family with three young children. The two oldest are boys. The third is 4-5 months old and only about 6 people in the world know his/her gender. The family is aiming to raise this one as gender-free.

From the Star...

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"When Storm was born, the couple sent an email to friends and family: “We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now — a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? ...).”"

Is something like this even possible?  In a world where traditional gender stereotypes are still prevalent, can a child grow up to be neither and be accepted by his/her peers?

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When stories like this arise, more often than not, I wonder if the parents have really thought this through for the kid.  Do they think about the long-term effects, positive or negative, this might really have? Are they acting on their ideals regardless of any negativity the child might suffer in the future? 

Where does a parent draw the line between traditional parenting and parenting for your ideals, whatever the circumstances might be? Without "outside-the-box" thinkers, we wouldn't be a very evolved society.

But, is it our job as parents to use our children to spark movements of our ideals or is it our job to use ourselves as the spark and not bring the kids into it?

It's a tricky line to balance upon. I myself don't know the answer, but like everyone else, I sure have my opinions on it. Which I'm sure you'll read about in the comments. 

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